[e2e] Reputation systems

[David P. Reed]

Just a thought.   Most countries have libel and slander laws and 
suchlike, and those laws include specific precedents and means to 
recover damages for harm to "reputation".   If you choose to use the 
metaphoric notion of reputation for a system that blocks connectivity 
among people and their agents, and even more, to embody it in a 
quantifiable and economically measurable technology, you almost 
certainly will entangle the system with existing precedent and law.

I've had in passing the thought of investing in a startup whose business 
model will be based on litigating disputes regarding reputation 
systems.   Sounds like easy money, especially  via picking the pockets 
of engineers and business investors who don't think carefully through 
the complex social implications of trying to enforce their preference 
architectures on others.

While I have better things to do, there are lots of litigious types who 
may see this as a profitable activity or one that embodies and escalates 
vigilantism...

Nuance is important here - there is a legal difference between not 
vouching for someone or something and vouching against someone or something.